Category Archives: Messy Learning

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My First Blog Post

Well I missed my blogs birthday a few weeks ago – So belated Happy Birthday blog! Here is my first post:

Why Field Trips, Technology and Project Based Learning?
Sunday, March 5th, 2006

Why Field Trips and technology and project based learning? They build schema and experience many of our students don’t have.

School mission statements have revolved around developing students that know how to learn or teach themselves for many years.

“Students will develop the skills required to become lifelong learners,” has become almost a mantra in education. Then we go about this by doing what we have been doing forever – just more focused, organized and, “research based.” NCLB added “the stick” because obviously what was missing was strict accountability.

Language and math “literacy” have become the focus because the thinking is that underachieving students will never make it without the “3R’s.” OK, fair enough – and some of those programs have made a difference – especially in primary grade reading and math test scores. However, as soon as students get to 3rd or 4th grade those scores drop and continue to drop more each grade level thereafter.

Why? Partly because the programs being mandated are so time consuming that there is no time for anything else (field trips, real science, real social studies, art, technology, PE, etc.) where students might experience at least some of the vocabulary and background knowledge required to make sense of what they read – and make it interesting. When students hit upper elementary, reading and math questions stress more and more analytical skills and vocabulary and students often just don’t have the schema in those areas to be successful. Reading then is too often meaningless and boring.
Technology has become a new tool of literacy – like it or not. Just like long ago:

At a teacher’s conference in 1703, it was reported that
students could no longer prepare bark to calculate problems. They depended instead on expensive slates. What would students do when the slate was dropped and broken?

According to the Rural American Teacher in 1928,
students depended too much on store bought ink. They did not
know how to make their own. What would happen when they
ran out? They wouldn’t be able to write until their next trip to
the settlement.

We are not doing our students justice by not giving them experience with the new tools of literacy because we don’t feel they know the old ones well enough. Technology is a gateway to learning that without the knowledge of its use students will be at a disadvantage compared to those that do.
Don’t believe that yet? We will continue to convince you.

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Ah The Troubles I’ve Seen

Saturday I was scheduled to do a 1 hour presentation “Tales From A Model Technology Classroom” at the Nevada Technology Leadership Conference. That was great because Ian Jukes was doing several presentations after his keynote and I would have a chance to sit in on at least one and then spend the afternoon seeing several other sessions. When I arrived however, I was informed that I had one of the very few presentations on blogging and Web 2.0 apps and could I do that 2 hour presentation (scheduled for Sunday) this afternoon too. I was 90% ready to do that, but had no handout – the wiki I was making for it was not finished – because I was planning to finish that that night after I had a “feel” for the conference – but I relented and said I would do it.

Here’s the irony – the room I presented in had desktops for 35 and seating for probably 15 more people – but I only had seven participants. I had 10 minutes to set-up for the presentation, there was no way to attach my laptop to the projector or sound system – so I had to run the presentation (starting 10 minutes or so late) from the wiki links on the desktop in the room – which was not logged into the network because the last presenter in the room had shut it off (I figured that out – the log-in was posted on a poster on the back wall) – it went OK, but with such a small group in such a large room there wasn’t a lot of “chemistry” or feedback from the attendees. I did hear from one today though that they had already set up their own wiki and were amazed how easy it was.

Contrast that with today – I did the same (but tweaked) presentation with a finished wiki in a room with computers for 12 – I had people sitting on the floor – standing in the back and probably 10 or more people came late, saw the crowd and left – all my equipment hooked up just fine – the presentation went off without a hitch and was very well received by those in attendance.

Presenting is messy!

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Student Blogging Limbo

I’m not sure I would say we are going about this the wrong way, but we are trying to do many new things this school year. I have used technology with students since the early 80’s – but usually that has been limited – one or two classroom computers. I have had access to 30 wireless laptops for 7 years, but I was sharing them with the entire staff. Now this year comes along and I’m swimming in technology. Those 30 laptops, though old, live in my classroom, I have access to 3 digital video cameras, multiple digital cameras, scanners, and also a new Promethean Activboard. More importantly I have “PERMISSION” to use them with my students.

We are doing many tech/web 2.0 goodies, but we are introducing many of them at once. Again I’m not sure that is “wrong” – just that we are in early adoption mode in many things instead of learning things one at a time – becoming somewhat proficient and then moving on to the next.

Because of that approach we are aware of many things but still require lots of teacher support in almost everything we do.

Blogging is one of those areas. We have done some (along with, a 1:1 laptop pilot, digital video, word processing, internet research and applications (Wiki, Flickr, Skype, downloading video and images) but if you visit our blog you will note that 1) the posts we have done are not polished, we haven’t even agreed on a name (so Name To Be Decided graces it now) and therefore we have zero comments outside of our own to each other.

On the other hand as we learn we are seeing how these different pieces integrate – and as we do things and see the importance of analyzing what and why we are doing that work, we have come back to earlier work and come to terms with the shortcomings. Also contributing to that is how fourth graders mature – some students “grow-up” from one week to the next. An “its good enough” attitude one week becomes an “I didn’t see those mistakes? – I’d better fix that,” attitude the next.

So earlier work will become fodder for future learning and that can’t be bad. Look for us to come out of our “Blogging Limbo” in the next few weeks.

Also we have been working very hard on long pieces of writing that may become future blog pieces – although many of these stories are 2 to 6 typed pages … is that too long for a blog post for a 4th grader? These are pieces we started before we had laptops. They are stories about “Being Your Shoes” for a day and tell about a day in your life from the perspective of your shoes (this lesson is my best contribution on the Nevada Writing Project’s fantastic “Writing Fix” web site – Corbett Harrison has designed maybe the best web site to support writing instruction out there – with a little help from his friends).

It will continue to be an adventure to see how we progress – especially since I still hope to roll this class to fifth grade to continue our pilot and build on this year’s learning.

Learning is messy!

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Not A Good Sign!

You know you really need that upcoming 3 day weekend when you find yourself standing outside your classroom door pressing the button on the key to your car that unlocks the car doors, and then for an instant wondering why the door isn’t unlocking, and then you hear a car horn beeping out in the parking lot and … well, you get the idea.

8:00 pm update: I guess this isn’t my day. After school I was prepping some Flickr samples for a presentation the staff at my school HAS REQUESTED (be still my heart). I had just sent a magazine cover and trading card to print, I pushed back on my chair to stand up and the next thing I knew my head was making contact with the corner of the concrete block wall behind me – an ambulance ride and 3 staples later I’m home feeling foolish but fine.

2-15-07 update – OK this is getting ridiculous – today I got a call that my wife had fallen at her school … hurt her knee … meet us at the hospital … x-rays show knee is broken …. URG!
Did I mention that my 3 year old Powerbook laptop died this week? (if it was a car it would have 500,000 miles on it) – it is in at Apple being fixed.

Teaching is messy!

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Update and Thanks!

Well, to say the least we’ve had quite the response to our Skype and video projects! Thanks to all that have commented and showed such great support of what we are trying to do. I was especially intrigued for another reason by this comment:

AprilMJ Says:

You’ve made a convert. Being a district admin, I am initially cautious of new technologies that may tax an already overextended system… but you’ve proven that the cost is far outweighed by the benefits.

Congrats. You’ve touched more than one life.

It has only been 2 weeks, and we have only managed to Skype less than half that time – partly because we are in a heavy assessment period (11 days of testing in a less than a 30 day period) and for other reasons too – some technical, some medical. There is definitely a learning curve for all involved.

Videoconferencing works really well for certain types of lessons – brainstorming for writing (which was our first activity on the first day) works well for example – and Celest seems to be able to follow along pretty well in math – I use several web sites to have students practice multiplication facts and she is able to be just one of the students in class when we do that also. Other types of lessons we will have to work out how best to include her. I really want to try involving her in group discussions for example – and I think we can get her in music class too – the music room might be close enough to one of our wireless hubs that I can carry the laptop and web cam in so she can sing along – the music teacher is game, so we will give it a try.

The iMac computer she is using has a built-in iSight camera which I’m finding out might be a disadvantage. I can move the USB connected web cam we have in class around to show her things – even the screen on the laptop we use if necessary,  – it would be nice if she could show me what she is doing sometimes to either troubleshoot an application issue she is having or so I could see her writing as she is doing it – but that built-in camera doesn’t lend itself well to that.

My school district’s bandwidth is barely adequate so we have periods where she comes in loud and clear and times when the sound drops out a lot. Of course Friday a local TV news reporter came to do a report (she helped get the computer) and the HP we usually use would not connect at all – so I used my Mac laptop and an iSight camera – there was a constant buzz, the sound dropped out and we had to reconnect every few minutes – other than that things went well, things went well, things went well …

My other students are still “overly intrigued” by it all, so I have to shoo them away (occasionally) from waving into the camera during transitions – but I know that in the not-to-distant future this will just be what we do and become fairly transparent.

I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Learning is messy!

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So Our Goal Was To Make A Difference With Web 2.0 – Will We Succeed?

As someone who embraced technology as a learning tool early on (my first classroom computer was a 64K Apple ll – not even a lle) I’m right there with many in the edblogosphere that have come to the conclusion that the snails pace of adoption by many in education would be enhanced if we had many examples of it truly making a difference in schools. My class has now successfully included a student that cannot attend school because of her leukemia twice using FREE video Skype software (see here and here). Our plan is to do it as many days as she feels up to it. And beyond the obvious implications of that, what needs to be pointed out is that it was EASY. Beyond getting her a DSL line and computer, which took the better part of 2 months, setting up the Skype connection literally took less than half an hour at her house and our classroom combined. My fourth graders that came into this year having close to zero experience with technology beyond video games and phones, hook up the laptop and web cam we use easily after we did it ONE TIME (we’ve done it twice more since).

Will this make a difference in Celest’s life? The rest of my students’ lives? Others’ lives? Does this project have implications for web 2.0 beyond what we are trying to accomplish here (including someone)? Besides using Skype my students have already used Flickr, blogged, used email, word processed, used digital still and video cameras and planned a video about this experience – and we have only been doing it for 3 days. The exciting thing is we will experience the answers to these questions. More as it unfolds.

Learning is messy!

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Skyping Celest – Day One – The Whole Story

Wednesday

We couldn’t begin first thing in the morning because we had the NAEP test to do – one last obstacle to get over before we could try our grand experiment. The plan was to wait until after lunch and then connect-up (Skype-up?) for the first time. Fortunately, I had Celest ring us up as soon as the class went to lunch – this turned out to be one smart move because when we clicked on our video buttons our image came up right away but the image from her end was black. I tried the few things I could think of, all the time repeating to myself, – but it worked flawlessly twice last night!!!?

I had 25 minutes before eager students would return from lunch, so after checking out with administration I zipped over to her house. The problem? There were at least ten applications open. Windows – their only experience was with Windows – and I hadn’t had a chance to brief them about everything the night before. They closed applications by clicking the windows closed not realizing that that did not close the application on a Mac. I restarted the computer and made the return trip.

At 12:30 video cameras were revved up to catch the event from 2 angles. Students tried hard to settle, but most were on their knees in their chairs hardly able to contain themselves. To begin I projected the image onto our Whiteboard. A ring sounded, I clicked the green phone icon and then the video button and in a matter of seconds Celest, who had shown up on my daily attendance since October, entered our classroom for the first time.

Hellos and waves were exchanged all around – I pivoted the web cam around to each table in the room so all could be introduced. Faces beamed. Now what?

I disconnected the laptop from the Activboard and moved it and the web cam I had taped to the top of a tripod to the front table – the students there gladly made room for their new classmate. I pointed the web cam at the board and had paper distributed all around (including Celest) – Yes I know – why are we using paper when we have laptops and Celest obviously has a computer to work on? Composing on a computer takes some getting used to, we will get there, but we’re not there yet.

I connected my Mac to the ActivBoard and started a pre-write brainstorm about our experience. I adjusted the camera angle once so Celest could see clearly and she followed along with the session easily. After the brainstorm we all wrote a rough draft and then word processed them on our computers. At one point Celest got my attention and wondered if it was OK if she went to the bathroom – how cool is that, she felt like she was at school! I reluctantly allowed her to go (couldn’t she have done that during lunch? : ) Our school counselor, Ann Marlow, who made most of the calls that made this happen – including making the connection that got us the new iMac, walked through and said her hellos and noted the writing everyone was doing – she was both relieved and thrilled this was finally happening.

1st-day

When Celest let me know she was done typing I talked her through spell checking and some other editing pieces, and then led her through emailing her file to me at school. This became her first post on our blog.

About then it was time for us to go to the library, so we said goodbye to Celest since library would take us to the end of the day. And, after many goodbyes of course, our first Video Skype experience was over.

Thursday, Celest attended for a bit more than an hour – she practiced her multiplication facts online with the rest of us and did some reading before she went off for chemo. She paid us a quick visit on her way home just before dismissal – mask on, no wig – she couldn’t make it today – we understand why. Monday will be a fresh day – except that we have ITBS testing all morning – all week, so it will be afternoons only.

We storyboarded our video about our experience today using the Flipchart software in ActivStudio, we will try to finish shooting it and editing it next week with Celest’s help – if so I will post the video for all to see. The students came up with some great ideas.

Learning is messy!

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Inclusion Via Skype – We’re Almost Completely There!!!


Inclusion Via Skype

Originally uploaded by BCrosby.

This post refers to previous postings (here and here) about a fourth grade student in my class – that because of Luekemia and the chemo/radiation treatments she is receiving cannot attend school.

We’re almost there! After more obstacles and issues than you would believe, today I installed a brand new iMac computer, DSL line and Skype connection at Celest’s house. The chemo and radiation have taken their toll on her hair, but she absolutely glowed when Doug Taylor (sixth grade teacher who helped me set things up and then returned to school for the trial run – THANKS DOUG!) answered her Skype call from my classroom (see photo) and we made the connection for the first time. A little later we hung-up, I left and returned to school, and then so she could practice making the connection herself we tried it again. My principal was sitting there when we made the connection again.

We will repeat the process again after lunch tomorrow (we have to take the NAEP test in the morning) and officially make her an attending member of a class she has been enrolled in since October for the first time. Hallelujah!

I will be posting a vidcast when we get it done.

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GRRRRRRRR! #%#**#@#!!!!– But Its OK … We Will Still Make It Happen! Online Inclusion Update 3

This is an update of some earlier posts.

I got back from my trip to Houston this morning and immediately touched base to see if phone line installation, DSL hook-up and modem delivery had happened. It was confirmed – everything was finally in place – all I had to do was go and do the installation of modem, computer and train my student how to make things work. I even dragged Doug Taylor, a sixth grade teacher, along who knows more about IT than I ever will in case what should be a no-brainer install ran into problems. Plus, once we had things running Doug was going to drive back to school and test the Skype connection from the school end so we could be sure things would work.

Well, we ran into problems … but nothing Doug could help with. NO MODEM had been delivered after all. After a few quick calls we determined it just wasn’t going to happen today UUUUUURRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!! So we packed up everything and left.

The upside is that I did finally meet my student in the flesh for the first time. She showed me some of her Christmas presents and I tried not to breathe my germs anywhere near her. Her wig (because of the chemo and radiation) looked good and she is really looking forward to getting this going. We will try again tomorrow if the modem is located – but she will only be around for a few days next week because of another procedure she has to have done. All the more reason we need to make this happen ASAP!

Learning is messy!!!!